The Voyages of Captain Cook

Podcast Transcript

Captain James Cook was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy whose three major voyages of exploration between 1768 and 1779 greatly expanded European knowledge of the Pacific region.

His detailed maps, scientific observations, and interactions with indigenous peoples left a profound impact on geography, ethnography, and natural history.

He left an indelible mark on the region, and in the end, it also killed him.

Learn more about Captain Cook, his voyages, and how his impact can still be felt today on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

I’ve done many episodes on various countries and islands in the Pacific and have mentioned Captain Cook multiple times, so I figured it was time to give the man his own episode.

James Cook was born in 1728 in the small Yorkshire village of Marton, the son of a farm laborer. This humble beginning makes his later achievements all the more extraordinary, as naval officers mainly were drawn from the upper class in the 18th century.

As a young man, he apprenticed with a shopkeeper before finding his calling at sea, working on coal ships along England’s treacherous North Sea coast. This experience proved invaluable, teaching him practical seamanship and navigation skills that formal naval training often overlooked.

Cook’s transition from merchant sailor to Royal Navy officer was unusual for his time. He enlisted as an able seaman in 1755 during the Seven Years’ War, but his exceptional abilities quickly caught attention. Within two years, he had risen to master of the HMS Pembroke, demonstrating the kind of rapid advancement that reflected both his competence and the navy’s need for skilled navigators.

His first major contribution came during the siege of Quebec in 1759, when he surveyed the treacherous St. Lawrence River, enabling British forces to navigate safely to their decisive victory. This work established Cook’s reputation as a master of hydrography: the science of mapping waters and coastlines.

After the war, he spent several years mapping the coast of Newfoundland, where his precision and scientific approach caught the attention of the Royal Society and the Admiralty. This laid the foundation for his selection as leader of a new scientific expedition to the Pacific.

Cook’s first Pacific voyage began with a scientific mission that concealed broader imperial ambitions. The Royal Society aimed to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun from Tahiti in 1769.

On May 5, 1768, Cook was selected to lead the voyage before he had even achieved the rank of lieutenant. He took the exams to become a lieutenant the next day, which was the minimum rank required to lead a ship.

The 1769 transit of Venus was a huge event for astronomers at the time, as it enabled them to apply the principles of parallax to calculate the distance between the Earth and the Sun with greater precision than ever before. This measurement was essential for establishing the scale of the solar system and improving navigation and celestial mechanics.

However, Cook also carried secret orders to search for the mythical southern continent, Terra Australis, which Europeans believed must exist to balance the landmasses of the Northern Hemisphere. His orders were only to be opened after the transit.

Sailing aboard HMS Endeavour with botanist Joseph Banks and astronomer Charles Green, Cook first demonstrated his revolutionary approach to long-distance sea voyages. Previous expeditions had lost enormous numbers of crew to scurvy, a disease we now know results from vitamin C deficiency.

Cook enforced strict dietary discipline, requiring his men to eat sauerkraut, fresh vegetables when available, and citrus fruits. This attention to crew health allowed him to maintain an effective working force throughout journeys that laste for years.

On his first voyage, he didn’t lose a single man to scurvy, which was an incredible accomplishment for the time.

After successfully observing the Venus transit in Tahiti, Cook opened his secret orders and sailed south, then west. His methodical approach to exploration set him apart from previous navigators.

Rather than making quick coastal surveys, Cook spent months carefully mapping coastlines, taking depth soundings, and recording detailed observations of geography, weather, and indigenous peoples.

The voyage’s most significant discovery came when Cook encountered the eastern coast of Australia. Unlike earlier Dutch explorers who had found only the continent’s harsh western shores, Cook discovered the fertile eastern coast.

At Botany Bay, the ship botanist Joseph Banks collected unprecedented botanical specimens, while Cook claimed the entire eastern coastline for Britain, calling it New South Wales.

The voyage nearly ended in disaster when Endeavour struck the Great Barrier Reef. Cook’s calm leadership during this crisis demonstrated his exceptional seamanship. Rather than panic, he systematically lightened the ship, plugged the hole, and nursed the damaged vessel to shore for repairs.

He returned to England in 1771, having been gone for over three years, and was promoted to the rank of commander.

Cook’s second voyage represented perhaps the greatest feat of ocean Navigation in human history. His mission was to definitively settle the question of Terra Australis by sailing as far south as possible and systematically searching the southern Pacific Ocean.

Terra Australis was not the modern-day continent of Australia, which was known as New Holland at the time.

Commanding HMS Resolution and accompanied by HMS Adventure under Tobias Furneaux, Cook became the first navigator to cross the Antarctic Circle. He pushed further south than any human had ventured, reaching 71°10′ South before impenetrable ice forced him back.

Through this systematic exploration, Cook proved that no habitable southern continent existed in the Pacific, finally laying to rest a geographical myth that had persisted since ancient times.

It should be noted that Cook never laid eyes on the continent of Antarctica.

This voyage showcased Cook’s evolution as both explorer and ethnographer. His encounters with Pacific Islander societies became increasingly sophisticated, and his journals reveal growing respect for indigenous navigation and seamanship skills.

In places like Tonga and the Society Islands, Cook observed complex political systems and advanced agricultural techniques that challenged European assumptions about “primitive” peoples. His respect for Polynesians grew as he met more of them over time.

His voyages were not ones of conquest, and he was given explicit instructions to conduct himself peacefully with the local people and use violence only as a last resort.

The voyage also demonstrated Cook’s growing expertise in Pacific navigation. He rediscovered numerous islands found by earlier Spanish explorers, but his precise mapping and detailed descriptions made them accessible to future navigators.

He returned to England on July 30, 1775, having been at sea for another three years.

After his return, he was finally elevated to the rank of captain. He was also honored for his achievements in navigation and the prevention of scurvy. He wrote a paper on his techniques for the prevention of scurvy at sea in 1775. He was made a member of the Royal Society and was awarded the prestigious Copley Gold Medal for his accomplishments.

On his second voyage, he also brought with him a copy of John Harrison’s H4 chronometer, which he was able to use to determine longitude accurately. Cook praised the device as it was what allowed him to create such accurate maps.

Cook’s final voyage, which began in 1776, tackled one of navigation’s greatest challenges: finding a Northwest Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific through Arctic waters above North America.

This route, if it existed, would revolutionize global trade by providing a shortcut between Europe and Asia.

Sailing north from the Pacific side, Cook systematically mapped the North American coast from Oregon to Alaska. His charts of this region remained the standard for decades, demonstrating his unparalleled skill in coastal surveying.

He penetrated the Bering Strait and pushed into the Arctic Ocean until ice blocked further progress, proving that any northern passage would be impractical for regular navigation.

The voyage’s tragic conclusion came during a return visit to Hawaii, which Cook had discovered and named the Sandwich Islands during his northward journey.

After initially being welcomed by the Hawaiians at Kalakekua Bay, where his arrival coincided with the Makahiki festival honoring the god Lono, relations between Cook’s crew and the islanders deteriorated.

When the Resolution sustained damage and returned to the bay shortly after leaving, tensions had already begun to rise. The situation escalated when a small British boat was stolen by the Hawaiians, likely as retaliation for previous thefts and mounting resentment.

In response, Cook attempted to kidnap the ruling chief of the island of Hawai?i, intending to hold him hostage until the stolen property was returned. This act was perceived as a grave insult and provocation.

As Cook tried to lead the chief away, a large crowd gathered, and violence erupted on the beach. During the confrontation, Cook was struck on the head and stabbed to death by Hawaiian warriors on February 14, 1779.

His death marked the end of an era in Pacific exploration, but his crew continued his work, completing the voyage under the command of Captain Charles Clerke.

Today, there is a monument on the Big Island of Hawaii near the spot where Cook was killed. I’ve actually visited it, and it isn’t easy to get to, but it’s accessible if you know where it is and are willing to make the hike.

The legacy of James Cook can be seen all over the Pacific.

Several landmarks around the world bear Captain James Cook’s name, reflecting the wide reach of his explorations.

In New Zealand, the Cook Strait separates the North and South Islands, and the country’s highest mountain, Mount Cook, is also named after him.

The Cook Islands in the South Pacific were named in his memory, even though he only visited some of the islands that now bear that collective name.

In Alaska, Cook Inlet near Anchorage marks the area he explored while searching for the Northwest Passage.

On Canada’s west coast, Cape Cook on Vancouver Island commemorates his surveys of the Pacific Northwest.

In Australia, James Cook University in Queensland honors his charting of the continent’s eastern coastline.

As a navigator and a seaman, his accomplishments placed him in the highest esteem in the British Navy. He was one of the best marine cartographers in history at that point.

His insistence on crew hygiene, serving fresh food whenever possible, and administering specific dietary supplements dramatically reduced death rates from scurvy on long voyages. This breakthrough made extended Pacific exploration feasible for the first time.

The botanists aboard his ships identified over 2000 species of plants that hadn’t been known to Europeans before.

His impact on the Pacific region itself is mixed. While Cook’s voyages were not intended to be violent or confrontational, such events did happen. 45 indigenous people were killed across the three voyages, and he lost 15 of his crew to native people in conflicts.

He unknowingly spread diseases to many islands that had either little or no contact with Europeans beforehand.

While his journeys weren’t intended to colonize, the exploration and navigational maps from his voyages ultimately led to the colonization of almost every island in the region decades later.

Cook’s efforts laid the groundwork for British imperial expansion in the Pacific, particularly in the settlement of Australia and New Zealand.

What can’t be denied is that the voyages of Captain James Cook have had a lasting legacy in the Pacific. His voyages laid the foundation for what would happen in the region over the next century and beyond.